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1. C. ROBERTS.

MESSAGE DART.

APPUCATION FILED OCT. r3, I917.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

JCEafiery JOHN C. ROBERTS, OF NEW IBERIA, LOUISIANA.

MESSAGE-DART.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

- Application filed October 13,1917. SerialNo.196,509.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. RoBnR'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Iberia, in the parish of Iberia, and State of Louisiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Message-Darts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to darts especially adapted to be used for casting messages from moving trains while passing stations and the like and it consists in the novel features hereinafter described and claimed.

It is frequently necessary for trainmen and oflicials of a railroad to deliver mes sages or letters to persons along the route while the train is in motion, and when this is done according to the mode in common vogue it frequently happens that the message or letter is drawn under the train by the current of air due to its rapid motion. In many instances the messages are run over by the train and ruined or carried for some distance by the air current and thus lost, and as the train is usually traveling at a high speed the person who delivered the message cannot ascertain whether the message has been received or not, thus causing a great deal of inconvenience, and in many cases, through imperfectly delivered orders, imperiling the lives of passengers and trainmen.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple device which can be carried around in the pocket of the trainmen and which is adapted to secure the letter or message and to enable the device and its attached message to be thrown from the train with a considerable degree of certainty and precision to the station.

With this object in view the dart consists of a single piece of galvanized iron wire coiled in the form of a spiral and upon which the message, which is' written on papermay be folded and tucked so that the dart may be thrown with accuracy and precision to a considerable distance from the train thereby carrying the message beyond the influence of the draft or current of air which is created by the moving train.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the dart wire being approximately of No. 8 gage. I

This wire is coiled from end to end in the form of a true Archimedean spiral and the convolutions of the coil are spaced from each other as best shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The surfaces at the opposite sides of the spiral lie in parallel planes. The message 2 is on a strip of paper, such as is usually employed for this purpose and the said strip of paper is folded and threaded along the coil of wire 1 with its free end tucked through the center of the coil. When the dart is so applied to the message, the message and dart may be cast off or thrown to a considerable distance beyond a moving train and hence the dart and the message are carried beyond the influence of the current of air which is created by the moving train and the message is not lost or destroyed.

The dart may be used any number of times and by pre-arranged orders or instructlons they may be returned at intervals to a central or distributing point.

From the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that a' message dart of simple and durable structure is provided and that the same may be conveniently used for precisely and accurately delivering messages at a station from a moving train, thereby assuring safety and certainty in the delivery of the message.

Having described the invention what is claimed 1s:

A message dart comprising asingle piece of wire coiled from end to end in the form of a true Archimedean spiral, the surfaces at the opposite sides of the spiral lying in 95.

parallel planes.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JOHN C. ROBERTS.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of intents, Washington, D. G." 

